Pipers never worked for me, but I loved the early version Hadleys (which later became the Hadley curvy fit). I bought a few SP brand leather strap goods early on and was not at all impressed so I didn’t buy again, not sure if it ever improved because I know some people who seem to like it.
Their clothing never fit me, either! I had Pipers and Hadleys, and one of their sunshirts. The shirt was clingy and the arms were too short, and the breeches were supremely unflattering . However, most other brands that carry a long cut (or just run long) fit me just fine so I’m not starved for options. I think the biggest benefit was their size inclusive line and curvy fit options - not for me but I know plenty of people that finally found riding clothing that fit from SP. That will be a shame to lose.
Their leather goods are that coated stuff from India in varying degrees of “plastic”, depending on the line. I have a few sub-$100 bridles bought in a pinch because I needed a weird size NOW - hey free shipping! However their mid-range stuff wasn’t bad for the price and I feel like their halters were pretty good quality. I DO like my knock-off Professional’s Choice girth from them and my set of rubber reins.
TLDR: the size-inclusive clothing line will be a major loss to the market, but the tack was just easy to throw in the cart if you’re in a pinch. I think they had good knock-offs of simple tack like synthetic girths that I couldn’t find comparable options elsewhere for so that’s a bit of a shame.
I have quite a few of the SP girths as well. They’re cheap and easy to clean. I didn’t fit in the Pipers, but do have a few pair of Hadleys which fit well. I do have their blankets and sheets. Those are staying, right?
I never liked their breeches, but I have several of their sun shirts that I really liked. I also have a few of their lower end bridles. The older ones are really decent for the price but the newest one I have is definitely lesser quality - but it works quite well for a schooling bridle given the $ I spent on it. They were a nice source of inexpensive leather when you needed a different sized bridle but didn’t have the resources to spend a lot on it.
The Hadley Curvy cut is the closest thing I found to the fit of the late, lamented FITS Beka. And when they said that it was a size whatever Long, it was legitimately Long. I hope they did sell the line.
It appears to be that the blankets and other horse clothing items are staying, yes.
I tried to like their sun shirts but they never fit me or kept me cool like the Kerrits Ice Fil, so I kept sending them back.
My experience with Piper breeches was a love/hate relationship. SP kept changing the cut and the fabric. There was the original fit, then the mid-rise, then the high rise, then that weird Evolution fabric and the knitted ones with the super high waist. I got confused and couldn’t remember what fit and what didn’t. At least they were long enough and when I stumbled upon the correct style I wore them a lot.
I will miss the 10’ trail reins if those are discontinued! Love those!
Well, I sent an email to Smartpak customer service a little over a week ago spelling out my concerns. One of which was changes in customer service. I tried to list all the things we like about the company before adding in any sort of complaints and it was very politely written. (I even had my non horsey husband read it to check the tone.) I did not get any type of response. It is a shame as I made sure to let them know that I have been a supplement customer on autoship for almost 25 years. You would think that they would least acknowledge that they received it. Nope. Adding insult to injury, I received an email yesterday informing me that they are doing modest price increases beginning next month. Turns out I will now be spending $25 additional dollars for my supplements. I wonder if their customer service even cares how close they are to losing my business. Not happy. At all.
Yep, same email received here. They raised my supplements ~ $25 in February and are raising them another $20 starting next month.
I don’t think they check their customer service emails, based on notes at the bottom of emails I have received from them. It said their customer service email address was an unmonitored email.
I ended up cancelling my Smartpaks. I keep my horses at home and the Smartpaks were easy for my husband and allowed me to get free shipping if I say wanted a pair of breeches. With Smartpak cutting back on items I decided I can just get buckets from somewhere else and save money.
You can still get shipping even without having Smartpaks. Just register your barn on their site and then you get the weekly free shipping to your barn. Or at least that has worked for me.
A lot of the raw ingredients for supplements come from China: vitamin C is basically all from China. And I would bet a fair amount of the packaging does too. They are probably getting hammered by tariffs.
I’ll be checking my emails now! I’ve only kept the SmartDigest Ultra for the ColicCare… so not sure at what point the cost/benefit tips in balance. Probably need to send them photos of the couple Ultimate blankets that have some tears. Hopefully they get the customer service back in order.
My supps went up again too. Significantly. So I cut back to the bare minimums - I could self-baggie or switch to something else but the convenience still wins out for the boarded horse. For now.
Tariffs get paid by the consumer unfortunately, which some people don’t seem to understand. Whether this is corporate greed, tariffs, or both, I’m still having to rebudget and rethink my horse care essentially weekly 🥲
I don’t think Smartpak’s prices are going up because of tariffs, I think they are going up because they think they can charge it and people will still pay. Boo private equity!
I for one am shopping around insurance and going to drop supplements. ColicCare is no longer worth it.
I don’t know if it’s a Tariff issue, or a Smartpak is narrowing their market down and raising prices to compensate for the things they no longer sell issue.
I am not all for paying more, but it seems like it has been a reasonable amount of time since the last price increase. Hasn’t it been about a year?
My last increase was February, so about six months. They’re also giving ~ 2 weeks notice, the email said that it applies to all orders after 8/24.